Science & Culture: Is Brain Project the Apollo of Our Time?

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This spring, President Obama announced what could be this
generation's defining national science effort — an ambitious
mission to map the human brain. In its size and scope, the
project could claim a place in human culture on par with previous
landmarks, like the moon landings and the Human Genome Project,
experts say.

Big, national science efforts do more than just direct the
science-funding spigot; they can also become a part of the
culture. These kinds of national undertakings seep into the arts,
pop culture — and the popular consciousness, said Cyrus Mody, a
professor of science, technology and engineering at Rice
University. "People start to think in the terms that define these
projects."

The brain-mapping
initiative (officially BRAIN, for Brain Research through
Advancing Innovative Technlogies) headlines a series of White
House "Grand Challenges," defined as "ambitious goals on a
national or global scale that capture the imagination." The
point, then, is not simply to tackle big questions, but also to
shape the culture. [ The
10 Biggest Mysteries of the Mind ]

Place in history

Science projects have arguably their greatest cultural effects
when they become a shared historical memory. The archetype for
historically significant Big Science would seem to be Neil
Armstrong's first steps on the moon. The lunar landing
occupies a haloed place in American history books; as A.O. Scott
notes, the date of Armstrong's first small steps — July 20,
1969 — held a place beside Oct. 11, 1492, and July 4, 1776, on
his elementary school wall, and likely many others.

Digging a little deeper, however, it becomes clear that Apollo's
present place in history wasn't always so secure. Once the
initial sensation faded, the public didn't quite know what to
make of Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin's steps, said Matt Tribbe, a
historian of science and technology at the University of Houston.

It took a couple decades for
the moon landings to attain the iconic status they enjoy
today. In the '80s, the movie "The Right Stuff" and the space
shuttle launches generated more interest in Apollo, Tribbe said.
Historical perspective can be tough to predict, and it may
likewise take time for the true legacy of the BRAIN initiative to
become clear.

Ultimately, BRAIN's historical place may more closely resemble
that of the Genome Project, celebrated not so much as an iconic,
single event, but as a highly meaningful exploration. President
Bill Clinton described it as microbiology's equivalent of Lewis
and Clark's expedition, calling it "the most important, most
wondrous map ever produced by mankind." Many outside observers
agreed, calling the genome effort more significant than Apollo or
the Manhattan Project, in its probing of a fundamental aspect of
human identity. [ Unraveling
the Human Genome: 6 Molecular Milestones ]

Mapping the brain, perhaps even more so, also mines human
identity, making it particularly significant to the public, said
Ralph Greenspan, associate director of the Kavli Institute for
Brain and Mind at UC, San Diego, and one of the initial
proponents of the BRAIN project. "It cuts much deeper and is more
encompassing than any other medical subject," Greenspan said.
"It's the whole question about who we are."

Money motivations

Unlike the moon missions, neither Genome nor BRAIN could rely on
the most compelling motivation for Apollo:
the Cold War. Interpreted culturally as a potential victory
over the Soviets, the moon missions successfully (though, not
easily) secured its total $25 billion in funding, Tribbe said.

The Genome Project and
BRAIN initiative instead derive cultural meaning, and
consequent funding priority, from the importance the public
places on medical science, Mody said. "The public is concerned
about health and is inspired by research about the human being,
what it is to be human and what we can do to help human beings."

Obama has noted that the $3 billion Genome Project returned
nearly $800 billion to the economy, predicting a proportionate
return-on-investment for BRAIN's initial $100 million
investments.

Big Science in the popular vocabulary

The historical significance and cultural urgencies associated
with Big Science projects have also, unsurprisingly, vaulted them
into the worlds of pop culture and art.

"In the high and low literature of the '60s and '70s, Apollo is
all over," Mody said. Later pop culture responses reflect the
prominent historical perch Apollo eventually attained. Its '80s
renaissance also saw the pop culture immortalization of
Armstrong's moonwalk in the logo for the new MTV (which recently
received an
update for the 2013 MTV awards).

Big Science has continued to ripple throughout high and low
culture ever since, Mody said. "Artists today are very much
interested in reflecting a culture in which science plays such a
huge role," he said. This certainly proved true with the Genome
Project, and BRAIN will likely follow a similar path, he said.

The Genome Project placed the perspectives and language of
genetics in the popular lexicon, Mody said, "proposing the idea
that genetics tells us a whole lot about who we are and what our
fates will be."

Brain mapping should enter the public conversation in a similar
way, Mody said. "There will be more widespread talk of social and
behavioral traits as being emergent from the
brain," he said. Theories, like the currently popular
explanations of religion as a brain-centered phenomenon, will
gain greater currency. [ Inside
the Brain: A Photo Journey Through Time ]

Brain mapping may find a role in a future Hollywood dystopia,
too. Anxieties about Big Science projects have historically lent
themselves well to expression in popular science fiction. A
pre-Apollo Big Science effort, the Manhattan Project, not only
birthed the atomic bomb, but also gave rise to "Godzilla" and
other monster movies, Mody said. In those films, radiation from
atomic blasts creates angry mega-lizards, which then serve as an
embodiment of the anxieties and awe of the atomic age, Mody said.
Similarly, in 1993's " Jurassic
Park," T.
rex and kin embodied the power and dangers of genetic
technology.

High arts

Big Science has influenced the high arts just as much as it has
pop culture. Literary responses in the first few decades after
Armstrong's small steps often reflected the public's
ambivalence to the mission. John Updike described a detached
viewing of the landing, while Norman Mailer's "Of a Fire on the
Moon" expressed disillusionment with the bureaucrat-led conquest
of Earth's satellite. But writers were clearly interested in
treating the event, Mody said.

After the Genome Project, artists could be seen using genetic
techniques to alter plants or make a rabbit glow, for example,
Mody said. Paul Vanouse at SUNY Buffalo, in particular, has
turned genetic engineering tools and products into artwork, using
DNA replication experiments to produce visual designs and turning
a genetics lab into performance art.

The high arts are already responding to neuroscience
investigations, and the BRAIN initiative will only accelerate
that interest, said Sheldon Brown, a UC, San Diego professor of
visual arts who's own artwork marries neuroscience measurement
with the creation of immersive, digital worlds. His own artwork
marries neuroscience measurement with the creation of immersive,
digital worlds. Brown hopes to develop artistic experiences that
adapt to individuals' cognitive responses to virtual
environments.